Return to Roseglen

It’s a big weekend aboard RooBinEsque!

Ivy and her girls are out and about in bookstores everywhere, including Big W, and all online e-book retailers.

It’s always a special thrill to see it lined up on a shelf amongst books I love and authors who are friends.

I’m grateful to all the readers who’ve waited so patiently for this story, but as we all know life doesn’t run smoothly all the time.

RETURN TO ROSEGLEN is a new direction for me. It’s a story I hope resonates with readers. If you have a sister, a mother, a grandmother or an aunt then you’ll  recognise some of the family tensions. If you’re a women in her forties, fifties and sixties you’ll know what I mean by the term ‘sandwich generation.’ We’re the women juggling children, maybe even grandchildren, busy careers, menopause (and all the changes that brings), ageing parents, and also facing our own health issues. That’s a lot of pressure and it can feel like you’re the only one going through it. I know from looking around me we’re not alone…

It’s a story about women finding the courage to stand up, stand tall. At a time when the #metoo movement continues to gather momentum it’s important that our stories reflect the strength of women. I’ve grown up with courageous women. Aviation wasn’t always an easy world yet I watched my female colleagues succeed and grow with each success. My sister is providing enormous inspiration as she works with a charity helping refugees in the UK.

My mother and mother-in-law were both women who stood up for what they believed in – albeit in very different ways. RETURN TO ROSEGLEN is dedicated to both those women as the matriarchs in my world.

The story also shines a light on the issue of elder abuse. It’s not something new in our society – Shakespeare’s brutal play, KING LEAR, is all about elder abuse – but it’s an issue that’s only just starting to be acknowledged. Our elderly are just as vulnerable as our young, but recognising their needs can be difficult in the midst of a busy life. It’s not always easy either to admit that we’ve become the adult in the relationship and the love that is required from us is very different to everything that’s gone before.

I owe a huge thank you to Ali Watts and her team at Penguin Books Australia along with Clare Forster, my agent at Curtis Brown Australia, for believing in Ivy and her girls. It was a leap of faith to allow me to change direction and to have a 93 year old matriarch as one of the main characters. I do hope readers take Ivy to their hearts.

Buy Links are on RETURN TO ROSEGLEN’S own page. Click here.

And a big thank you to Gabrielle for this insight into Ivy.